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Last year the town of North Little Rock, Arkansas found their town inundated with geese. The mayor thought allowing hunting would be the best solution to remove the nuisance animals, but that ended up not happening as other means were used to remove the geese. The council had approved the use of firearms on city owned land for the removal.

Minnesota has taken over management of the wolf population in their state. 2012 will be their inaugural season and initial proposals are conservative. Right now the estimated wolf population stands at 3000, and the state would like it down around 1600.

The DNR is planning on holding the wolf season after the regular firearm seasons. Those that are hunting deer, about 180,000 in northern Minnesota, will not be able to shoot wolves when they see them. If the state's wolf population dipped down too far the state would lose the ability to manage them, placing them back on the endangered list. Deer hunters are not very pleased, thinking that with the later season there will be less hunters afield and the wolves will not be managed very efficiently. One ventured to guess that with this later season, less than a 100 wolves would be harvested.

In 1840 hunting for black bears ended in Connecticut. The habitat bears prefer was cleared in order to make way for farms and residences. Bears would not be seen in the state again until the 1980s when they ventured down from northern states into Connecticut. The rapidly expanding bear population, has caused an increase in complaints and damage to property and livestock. The growing population has wildlife officials considering a black bear hunt.

Hunters can bundle up and take precautions to ward off the cold weather while afield. Dogs however rely solely on their human companions. While outdoors this winter season make sure you help Fido out.

Deicers are used this time of the year on the road, so getting Fido some booties for his paws would be good to keep the chemicals from his pads or washing off his feet with warm water and applying some antiseptic after a day running afield. Washing them before Fido is able to lick them will help deter ingesting any of the chemicals used for deicing. Also dogs can get clumps of ice between their toes which can make them limp. Checking for the ice buildup periodically will help make the day longer. Older dogs may have arthiritis flare ups in the extreme cold. If your dog starts limping or has tender areas, a vet visit might be needed.

Hunters for the Hungry is a charity that accepts deer donations from hunters and with the help of meat processors, fill food banks with healthy food. Deer is excellent meat, lean and high in protein.

In 2010, the organization reached their highest donation of 408,000 pounds. They were hoping for 400,000 pounds this year. This is the first year since they started in the early 90s that they won't be growing with donations. They have seen about a 25% loss of donations, which is equal to about 100,000 lbs.

Pierre Mondotte and Anthony Piazza of Scottsdale were tracking a deer near Sasabe Arizona. They split up to go around a mountain to follow the deer. Mondotte spotted something that he thought was a body. After closer inspection they found it was burlap covering a pile of tin foil wrapped marijuana.

A 3,800 acre ranch, with a massive 11,000-square-foot lodge that includes 13 bedrooms and a 50 head bull elk herd, finds itself affected by the economy. The bank now owns Tabby Mountain Ranch after the original owners facing bankruptcy lost it.

The loss of this lodge shows the affects from the economy's downturn, and that hunters are not willing to pay thousands for the trophy bull elk hunts any more.

John Bergeron was hunting at dusk in an area that he had seen deer earlier in the day. Cheryl Blair was walking her two dogs around 5 pm in this area as well. Bergeron and Blair are neighbors in Norton, Massachusetts. Bergeron saw something and believed he saw a deer's tail, so he shot. Blair was struck by one shot from a black powder rifle. Bergeron called 911 and started doing what he could to help Blair before the emergency personnel arrived.

Starting with the new year New Hampshire is joining about 30 other states in offering an apprentice license. This is a once in a lifetime purchase where a person can try out hunting without taking the hunters safety class.

The apprentice license is good for one year, and allows a hunter to take part in the sport as long as they are with an experienced hunter. They must be within sight and hearing range of the experienced hunter at all times.

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The BGH Journal is composed by staff on a regular weekly basis to spotlight news, events, products, and BGH updates. If you see a news item locally that we missed and think it would be of interest to BGH readers, please send it in to info@biggamehunt.net

When it comes to scent, there are basically two types; those that attract and those that mask. I've tried both on many occasions. There are lots and lots of "doe in heat" scents, designed to attract a big buck into range. I've also used a "cow in heat" scent while elk hunting.
Another scent would almost be better named as a "coverup smell". The main goal is to cover up human odor or mask it. Though I don't believe you can ever totally eliminate all human...